Thoughts Before London Marathon 2023
It’s 4 days before London Marathon 2023 and I am getting EXCITED.
As lots of you know, it’s been a long journey to get here. I secured a ballot place way back in 2021 but deferred because I’d just had Evie and there was absolutely no way I’d be able to run 26.2 miles. I returned to running in late 2021 around 4 months postpartum using the NHS Couch 2 5k programme and then London Marathon’s beginners training plan (because although this wasn’t my first marathon, it was my first marathon since having a baby). Despite my best efforts my body was still healing from surgery (it can take 12 to 18 months for a scar to settle) and I was having problems with tightness thanks to my scar, so London Marathon 2022 wasn’t meant to be either (you can read the post I wrote about withdrawing here).
I was absolutely gutted. At the time you could only defer a ballot entry once and my body needed more time than London Marathon’s policies could give me. Withdrawing was heartbreaking, it felt like my only chance of running my hometown marathon had been ripped from me.
A few weeks after I withdrew I was talking to a friend who mentioned to me that London Marathon had introduced a new policy that allowed deferrals for up to 3 years due to pregnancy and that I should ask about it. So I did. And London Marathon said I could defer another year. Which is how I got here, 4 days out from London Marathon 2023 and, finally, able to get EXCITED.
This marathon means a lot to me. It’s my home town marathon, the streets I’ll be running on Sunday are the streets where I’ve trained for years. But it’s also more than that. Two years ago I was pregnant and I was very sick. I had a whole laundry list of issues from Pelvic Girdle Pain (PGP) that had me using crutches to pre-eclampsia, diabetes and polyhydramnios which had very real risks for both me and my baby. Throughout my pregnancy I was in and out of hospital, under the care of a huge team of specialists, poked and prodded at every opportunity and quietly very scared.
When I was in hospital I remember thinking about how once this baby was born I’d run London marathon and they’d be there to watch me do it. How I’d dress them in a little ‘My Mummy Ran A Marathon’ t-shirt and they’d be so proud of me. How in the days afterwards I’d email my medical team a picture of me and my baby with my London Marathon medal. In 4 days time I get to do all of that.
My marathon journey hasn’t been easy. There’s been a lot of ups and downs. Training with a full time job and a little child is not easy. But, while I’ve had doubts, I’ve never regretted my decision to take on this challenge. Over the last year having a focus as big as London Marathon has grounded me. It’s given me the time and the space I need to live well in the world, and I am so excited to run the final lap on Sunday.
